Success Story of Anand Kumar – Cleared SBI PO 2018

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” Thus here we bring to you the inspiring Success story of Anand Kumar who cleared SBI PO Exam in his very first attempt.

Watch and hear Anand Kumar’s Strategy for Success in the following video –

“Hello everyone. My name is Anand Kumar and I have recently cleared SBI PO 2018 in my very first attempt. I am a B.E graduate from B.I.T Mesra, Ranchi (2014-2018).

My Journey:

As I was not much interested to make my career in the technical field, I decided to prepare for SSC CGL 2018 in my 8th Semester. I purchased many books for CGL only to realize later that CGL is like “Pradhanmantri Panch Varshiya Yojna”. One need 2-3 years in hand to get final selection. Meanwhile, SBI PO Notification was released.

In May 2018 I decided to switch from CGL to Banking and started preparing right away. Purchased Oliveboard and Practice-mock mock tests as these were suggested by almost all the toppers. Now I too suggest the same to everyone.

Subject Wise Strategy:

a) Quants:

Firstly, I cleared my concepts from various YouTube channels and also learned a few shortcuts to calculate square, cube, etc. Then I started taking Oliveboard mock tests and analyzed them religiously.

For Prelims, initially, I used to solve Arithmetic questions first and then the rest of the questions. This was the biggest mistake which I used to do initially. Then I realized that to clear prelims you do not need to study Arithmetic (though you need to know the basics for Mains). First solve questions like Quadratic, Approximation, Simplification, D.I, etc. These questions in prelims are of the easy level. Just do all the NON-Arithmetic part and then do a few questions of the Arithmetic section which are easier to solve. For e.g Average, Age problems, etc. That’s all for prelims.

For Mains, the concept of clarity grabs the steering. You need to be crystal clear of all the concepts of Arithmetic topics. Because D.I of Mains is mostly chapter based. You need to have patience in this section. Mains is totally different from prelims. Here you need not have speed. First, scan the whole question paper and find out questions of your comfort zone. Don’t try to solve questions in a hurry. Here you need to maintain 100% accuracy. Choose questions wisely and solve them with utter patience. One question might take 2-3 minutes but that’s how MAINS works. Try to solve at least 20-25 questions in this section. Solve each and every question of the mock tests that I have mentioned above. Not even a single question of a single mock test should be left.

b) Reasoning:

This consists of two sections. One is Puzzle & Seating Arrangement and the other is Miscellaneous.

Try to master the miscellaneous part. By mastering I mean even if I wake you up at midnight and give you questions of Syllogism, direction sense, inequality, coding-decoding, etc. you should be able to solve them instantly. Learn the basics of the miscellaneous portion from various YouTube channels and then practice from quizzes along with the questions of your mock tests.

This can either be the most scoring subject or the most difficult one. It totally depends on your approach to learn the subject. English is divided into two sections. Grammar and Reading Comprehension

Grammar –

It is similar to a game. You know the rules, you play well and win. You do not know the rules, you fail miserably. Now the question is how and from where to learn the rules. Go to the market and purchase “Plinth to Paramount by Neetu Singh” Don’t try to save money by studying from pdf. Book will give you the real feel and you can mark important points there itself. Study this book and complete its exercises at least 3-4 times (just the grammar part). After studying this book for 3 times make short notes of around 5-10 pages. Now no need to refer the book again. Just revise the short notes at regular intervals and keep practising as many mocks as you can.

Reading Comprehension –

Try reading editorials and make notes of Vocabulary from them. Make a separate copy for this. Update this copy daily and keep revising the words regularly otherwise all your efforts will go in vain. Try speed-reading and along with that, you should understand the meaning of the paragraph as well. This does not happen overnight. Have patience and keep reading. Solve all the mock tests by Oliveboard. Now you are good to go.

d) General Awareness:

This was the most difficult section for me.

What did I do?

Started studying after Prelims result. Partially completed the capsules of a few websites like Oliveboard Bolt.

What should you do?

1) For Current Affairs-Pick any two websites and follow them daily from the day advertisement of your targeted examination is released. You can refer Oliveboard Bolt. Give daily quizzes as well.

2) For Banking Awareness– Pickup capsules of Banking awareness and GU and study the banking terms properly. No need to study anything apart from this.

3) For Static Banking-

PO Aspirants– Just ignore this section. The cost-benefit ratio of this section is close to zero. No need to waste time cramming names of Airports and Dams.

Clerk Aspirants– Start early. Pickup Static Awareness Capsule of any trusted website and cram it up. Don’t overburden yourself by trying to learn everything in just one week. Learn regularly and slowly.

Role Of Oliveboard In My Success:

Oliveboard Mock Tests was like a mirror to my preparation level. It gives you a variety of quality questions and prepares you for the worst case. You might feel bogged down by your scores in the initial tests of Oliveboard but if you analyze them in the correct manner you will find improvement in yourself and eventually your marks in Oliveboard’s later tests will shoot up. I myself have witnessed my percentile increasing from 60 percentile to 99.5 percentile. Questions in Oliveboard are above the exam level and this is very much needed if you want to deal with the unexpected level of Banking exams these days. I must say Oliveboard played an integral and important part in my selection.

Tip To Aspirants:

Keep practising as much as you can. Have patience and keep trusting yourself.”